


Think

by Tari_Sue



Series: Camelot Land [11]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-11
Updated: 2014-06-11
Packaged: 2018-02-07 20:52:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1913445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tari_Sue/pseuds/Tari_Sue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Will Merlin ever be able to keep out of the affairs of men?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Think

 

"Magic lover."

The words were muttered under someone's breathe, spat out as an insult. Whoever it was was not brave enough to make themselves known. 

The woman continued down the street, head held high. Merlin was horrified to see the bruise covering her eye and down one cheek. Had he kept out of the affairs of men so long? Magic users, he knew, were back to being treated as they were in the days of Uther Pendragon, but were those suspected of even sympathising now so marked?

Another man, this one braver, spat at her as she passed. As if spurred on by this display and the woman's lack of retaliation, others felt emboldened to do the same. 

"Devil's whore."

"Magic lover."

"Witch."

Had all that Arthur had worked for come to this, a mere hundred years later?

"Who are you, to treat another person this way?" The words were out of Merlin's mouth before he even realised he had spoken. This was not what he did anymore, he did not interfere. Let mankind do as it wished, they would anyway.

"Who are we?" a fat man in a greasy apron asked. His chin wobbled as he did so and Merlin had to resist the urge to turn him into a hog. "It is not who are we you should be asking, it is who is she!"

"Aye!" said another, scrawnier man. "Ask who is she who believes it is fine to hide magic users in our village."

"So, her only crime is to help someone?" Merlin asked.

"She'll see us all dead in our beds," a woman's voice called from the back of the small crowd that had gathered.

"Not to mention bringing the attention of the law on us," the scrawny bloke added.

"And did these magic users harm anyone?" Merlin asked.

Muttering ran through the crowd that Merlin took to mean 'no'.

"So, again, her only crime is to help someone. To try and avoid putting another human being through unbearable pain just for being able to do magic?."

"Magic is evil!" The fat man said.

"In what way?" Merlin asked as he let a trail of multicoloured butterflies sweep over the heads of the people. "Surely burning people alive is evil?"

"But…"

"No. You believe what you have been told to believe. You must learn to think for yourselves. Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the privilege to do so too."

"Why should we listen to you, sorcerer?" Another woman called out.

"Clearly you were not listening. You should not listen to me or anyone else. Magic is not evil, people are. Some of those people have magic, some do not, just as with good people. This woman has helped people who did no one any harm. She is one of you. Why do you persecute her? Why do you persecute anyone? You must learn to think, or there is no hope for any of us."

With that, Merlin turned on his heal and left the village. No one tried to stop him. He was done with the affairs of men.


End file.
